In many cases, foreign nationals could apply for a work permit at the Port of Entry (POE). They would need to submit proof of a Food Services Sector LMO at the POE. Therefore, the BSO would need to confirm that the ESDC has not suspended this specific LMO position. For this, the BSO would need to refer to the GCMS – as per the steps mentioned above.
If the ESDC has suspended the position, the BSO would need to confirm whether Citizenship and Immigration Canada has already approved the foreign national.
The authorities have made several changes to the GCMS. Therefore, the BSO can query the GCMS within the ‘Employment Validation’ screen for:
- The client name or,
- The LMO number
A foreign national, requesting for a new work permit at the POE, would not have a valid LMO on which to submit the work permit application at the POE if the foreign national:
- Has a suspended LMO in the Food Services Sector and,
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada have not approved the foreign national’s work permit application
Officers would not issue the work permit to a foreign national, who does not have a valid LMO. This is in accordance with Section 203 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).
In such cases, the BSO would have to take recourse to the normal actions available to them. These actions could help the BSO to deal with admissibility issues.
The CBSA Operational Bulletin Ops-2014-05 contains further information on this.
